Blair Makes Deal With Unions To Keep Soliders Dying In Iraq

Speaking in the debate, the GMB union's Yvonne Ritchie said: "My union opposed the invasion, and we remain opposed. However, we cannot rewrite history ... the consequences of us leaving would be to plunge Iraq into civil war."

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour2004/story/0,14991,1316281,00.html

Bono joked that Brown and Blair were the Lennon and McCartney of the Labour party, "the John and Paul of the global development stage".

"The point is, Lennon and McCartney changed my interior world - Blair and Brown can change the real world," he said.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20040930035616994C932501

rime Minister Tony Blair today avoided a damaging defeat at the Labour conference over pulling British troops out of Iraq.

Delegates voted by 86% to 14% to reject a motion calling on Mr Blair to set an early date for withdrawing the troops.

In a card vote they instead endorsed a statement by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, recognising British forces would stay as long as the Iraqi government wanted them to.

Although the move will be a relief to the Labour leadership, the unions – who sided with it – said it effectively meant the Government was now signed up to a timetable to end the British presence in Iraq.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3566623

Yet, as yesterday's manoeuverings to prevent a conference vote on Iraq showed, there is no real appetite in the party for humiliating Blair further on this issue, and certainly not for ditching him. The reason, and the big unspoken story of this conference, is the power of the trade unions. They may no longer dominate the television coverage, with their block votes and their smoke-filled rooms, but four union leaders are now more influential at the Labour party conference than ever before.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1316101,00.html